Sinusitis is an inflammation caused in a paranasal sinus. The paranasal sinus refers to cavities covered by mucosa located at four spots, that is, both sides of the nose, between the eyes, and above the eyebrows, and a state in which the inflammation in the nasal cavity reaches the paranasal sinus is the sinusitis. If the sinusitis develops, a swelling or a pain is caused in the paranasal sinus or yellow or green pus comes out of the nose in some cases. The causes can be, for example, the person's natural skeletal system in which pus tends to collect in the paranasal sinus or genetic factors.
Treatment of the sinusitis is given mainly with the purpose of drainage of a secretion such as pus collecting in the paranasal sinus and ventilation of the paranasal sinus. Methods for draining the secretion include Proetz displacement method. The Proetz displacement method is a method of suctioning and removing accumulated matters (which cannot be drained as if a flask with a small amount of water therein is stood upside down) collecting in the paranasal sinus by applying a negative pressure/positive pressure. Actually, a subject is made to assume a supine position, and physiological saline or the like is poured into the nasal cavity on the affected side in a state with the patient's head down. By repeating an operation in which the wing of the nose on an unaffected side is pressed with a finger, a negative pressure is applied to the nasal cavity on the affected side while the patient vocalizes a sound such as “Ah” and then, a positive pressure is applied, the secretion in the paranasal sinus is gradually suctioned and mixed with the physiological saline or the like, viscosity thereof is lowered, and the secretion is gradually excreted.
However, the Proetz displacement method has a limitation in its means, and its treatment is mainly for an ethmoidal sinus because of the anatomical position and has a low effect on other sinuses. In order to solve this problem, a catheter 101 for treatment of sinusitis as illustrated in FIG. 9 has been developed as a catheter capable of freely suctioning pus in all the paranasal sinuses. The catheter 101 for treatment of sinusitis is provided with two balloons 111 and 121. Specifically, the catheter 101 for treatment of sinusitis is inserted into the nose, and the two balloons 111 and 121 are inflated in front of and behind a natural opening open in the nasal cavity so as to block the inside of the nasal cavity. A drainage catheter 113 is provided in the catheter 101 for treatment of sinusitis, and a syringe (not shown) is connected to the drainage catheter 113, and a piston of the syringe is pushed/pulled. Here, a tip end of the drainage catheter 113, to which the syringe is connected, communicates with the inside of the nasal cavity sandwiched by the two balloons. By means of an action of the piston, a negative pressure is generated in the space sandwiched by the two balloons, and the pus in the paranasal sinus is pulled out of the natural opening.
Cleaning of the inside of the nasal cavity by the catheter 101 for treatment of sinusitis is performed by filling a lavage fluid in the syringe. Since openings of auditory tubes are outside the two balloons 111 and 121, there is no concern that the lavage fluid flows into the middle ear. By also filling antibiotics in the syringe, it can be directly put into the paranasal sinus. Since the catheter 101 for treatment of sinusitis causes a patient less pain and can freely suction the pus in all the paranasal sinuses, it is extremely effective for treatment of acute or chronic sinusitis.